The Economics of Arrival: Ideas for a Grown-Up Economy

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What do we want from economic growth? What sort of a society are we aiming for? In everyday economics, there is no such thing as enough, or too much, growth. Yet in the world’s most developed countries, growth has already brought unrivalled prosperity: we have ‘arrived’. More than that, through debt, inequality, climate change and fractured politics, the fruits of growth may rot before everyone has a chance to enjoy them. It’s high time to ask where progress is taking us, and are we nearly there yet? In fact, Trebeck and Williams claim in this ground-breaking book, the challenge is now to make ourselves at home with this wealth, to ensure, in the interests of equality, that everyone is included. They explore the possibility of ‘Arrival’, urging us to move from enlarging the economy to improving it, and the benefits this would bring for all. THE ECONOMICS OF ARRIVAL Contents List of figures, table and boxes Figures Table Boxes List of abbreviations About the authors Acknowledgements Foreword Preface 1. Introduction About this book 2. The fruits of growth Good growth and bad growth 3. Are the fruits of growth beginning to rot? Unsafe growth An unevenly shared harvest Growth that hurts Over-development 4. Stockholm Syndrome? How the economy fell in love with its captor 5. Rushing past our stop: failure demand, uneconomic growth and consolation goods 6. Embracing Arrival and making ourselves at home What is a good life anyway? Getting it right first time around: preventing uneconomic growth and failure demand What about decoupling? 7. What we might find in making ourselves at home Sharing and predistribution Shared work, better work Fulfilment beyond consumption Stewardship of the commons A circular and collaborative economy New business practices Participatory democracy Globally: convergence, climate justice and leap-frogging 8. Arrival and making ourselves at home in the real world Development as creating the conditions of wellbeing Two candidates for Arrival Stakeholder decision making Good work Pro-social business models From conspicuous consumption to experientialism and conspicuous citizenship A renewable and circular economy Collaborative economy 9. Are we nearly there yet? Charting Arrival Two contrasting countries 10. From individual initiatives to wider change: agitation, amplification and attention Pioneers, regimes and change agents Arise and amplify The new normal Making good choices Attention: talking about Arrival and making ourselves at home Measuring making ourselves at home 11. Choosing Arrival – one step at a time Steps for international institutions Steps for governments Steps for businesses Steps for cities and local communities Steps for individuals 12. Conclusion Appendix Further reading Money and finance Housing and land Technology Trade Education Politics Notes References Index